'Hunger Games', 'Lorax' Fend Off New Releases on Home Entertainment Charts

Nearly a dozen new home video releases appeared in the top 20 on the national sales charts the week ending Aug. 26, but none could break the hold of two high-profile theatricals already available on disc.

Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games and Universal Studios’ Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax repeated at No. 1 and No. 2 on both the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert chart, which tracks overall disc sales, and Nielsen’s dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales chart.

They kept the week’s biggest new release, Sacha Baron Cohen's The Dictator (distributed by Paramount), at No. 3 its debut week in stores, despite a robust $59.7 million theatrical gross and significantly better reviews than its predecessor, Bruno, a 2009 followup to 2006’s breakthrough Borat.

Walt Disney Studios took three other spots in the top 10 on both sales charts with the Blu-ray Disc debuts of Pocahontas/Pocahontas II (No. 4), The Rescuers/The Rescuers Down Under (No. 5) and The Aristocats (No. 7), while Paramount snagged the No. 6 spot on First Alert only with the TV DVD set NCIS: The Ninth Season.

The Hunger Games also hung on to the No. 1 spot on Home Media Magazine’s rental chart, with The Dictator bowing at No. 2.

Bernie, a comedy from indie label Millennium that grossed less than $10 million in a limited theatrical release, debuted at No. 3, while the Lionsgate direct-to-video actioner Freelancers bowed at No. 4.